Heron

“There you are.” said Caspian while opening the door of Orion’s compartment. Terry was also with him, both not wearing their uniforms. Caspian was wearing a plain t-shirt and sweatpants while Terry had a casual shirt and jeans. “You’re reading?” 

“He’s always reading.” said Terry, sitting opposite Orion near the window. 

“Quite the year, wasn’t it, I’m glad I managed to get good marks on the exams.” Caspian sat next to Terry. 

“Ugh, I almost messed up the Forgetfulness potion, Snape was making me worried.” Terry shivered in fear. 

“So, how do you guys plan to spend your summer vacation? My family said they’re taking me to Greece for a change; we usually don’t travel much.” 

“Just you? What about your brother?” asked Terry. 

“He said he’s going to France. Apparently, he managed to set up a meet with his pen pal from Beauxbarons.” 

“Beauxbatons.” corrected Orion still immersed in his book. 

“Right. What about you?” Caspian turned to the white-haired boy, only now noticing he was wearing a suit. “I see you’ve dressed up, planning on going somewhere?” 

Orion was spared having to answer as Silas suddenly slid the door open with a big exhale. 

“If Longbottom loses that toad one more time... How are you guys doing? Bad news by the way, Orion, I think Granger might have a feeling or two for Ron.” 

“What?!” Caspian and Terry shared their shock. “What makes you say that?” 

“While we were looking for Trevor, that’s Longbottom’s toad’s name, they touched, and she flinched away in a weird way.” 

“And that’s how you figured out she liked him?” Caspian relaxed back in his seat. “That means nothing, she might even feel the opposite.” 

“I wouldn’t be so sure; I also think Ron has a crush on her. You’ve got competition, Ori.” Silas teased, sitting next to him and giving him an elbow nudge. Orion remained unimpressed. “What were you talking about, anyway?” 

“Summer plans.” 

“I’m going to the States.” Silas said, puffing his chest out. “Apparently dad has some business there and he said he’d take me and mom along. I’m excited.” 

“How long will you be staying there?” asked Terry. 

“Mom and I – just for the summer, but dad might have to stay a bit longer. I’ll make sure I get you some souvenirs, though, don’t worry. Writing will be a bit difficult; I don’t think Lloyd can fly across the Atlantic yet, he’s quite a young owl.” 

“That reminds me, I need to get your guys’ addresses. I live on Coalport 14 in Harlow.” said Caspian. “Ori, can you share some parchment, I left mine in a different compartment.” 

Orion took out his wand and without looking at anything else besides his book, made his suitcase open and a piece of parchment flew out of it, alongside a pencil. 

“Thanks.” Caspian said, taking a close look at the pencil. He’d almost forgotten how to write with anything else besides a quill. “And where do you live?” he asked after taking Terry’s and Silas’s addresses. 

“Central London.” Orion answered dully with a look that did not invite the rest to try to get a more detailed one. 

“Could you use that spell, uhm, the duplicating one, so we can all have each other’s?” Caspian asked politely. 

“Geminio.” Orion tapped the piece of paper and two more copies emerged. 

“Woah, that’s like, a super hard spell, no?” Terry was in awe. 

“I’m not surprised at this point.” Silas took his copy. “I guess you don’t want to have one?” he pointed at the piece of parchment. 

“He’s probably already remembered them.” Terry said. 

Yet again the door was opened, this time three students were standing there, one dressed similarly to Orion. 

“Hawthorne, my father told me your parents had a “reward” waiting for you. Hmph, just because you finished the top of the year along with Granger doesn’t compensate for the lack of respect and shame you brin-” 

“Get out, Malfoy.” Orion glared at the blonde, suddenly reminding him very well of what he’d told him the last time they talked. 

Goyle slammed the door on their way out. 

“Didn’t he finish at the top too?” Terry was the first to break the awkward silence after Orion’s menacing warning. 

“He didn’t have full marks in History. Only Granger and Orion did, and I still don’t know how you managed to do that.” 

The rest of the trip back to King’s Cross, the three intruders spent their time giggling in Orion’s compartment. 

“See you in September.” Caspian said just before the train stopped. 

“Maybe we’ll see each other earlier. Bye, Orion.” Terry waved, heading to grab his luggage.  

Orion remained in his seat for a bit after everyone else had already disembarked, holding the closed book in his hands. 

---  

A large looming black building with a golden knocker on the door. Orion picked up his bags and opened the door to his home. 

“Welcome, Master Orion.” a high-pitched voice welcomed him. 

“Hello, Lulu.” he greeted the female house elf. 

Lulu was like any other house elf, wearing a simple cloth, looking like a medieval beggar. Orion overheard laughs coming from the living room. 

“There are guests here, master. Master Eris has told Lulu to tell master Orion to head into the room as soon as he can. They said a reward was waiting for him.” 

Orion knew that Lulu would also be punished if he didn’t follow his parents’ demands. One such instance lost her a finger for which he felt very guilty. 

“Ah, well, if it isn’t our lovely son.” said a deep male voice. 

Lazarus Hawthorne was a tall and large man. He had brown hair, eyes and beard. He never wore anything that wouldn’t make the passerby think highly of him. Likewise, his wife Eris never had anything besides a dress on and they always needed to complement her long blonde hair. 

“This here is Balthazar Nefarias and his daughter Kassandra.” Eris began. “You may have seen her, she just graduated from Hogwarts as a Slytherin.” 

Orion bowed as he was taught. 

“We had the pleasure of visiting their home this last Christmas. At that time, Balthazar asked of us a favor. We have agreed that you and Kass here will produce a child to strengthen the relationship between the two families. You should be glad,” she scoffed, “look at how pretty she is.” 

Kassandra was indeed an attractive young lady, though she was the polar opposite of Orion. She had sleek black hair which matched her obsidian eyes. The only similar characteristic they shared was the paleness of their skin. Orion beat her in that aspect as well. Even then, she was at least five or six years older than him. His parents noticed the slight surprise in his eyes, but he knew better than to not question anything they told him to do. 

“Go and wash up, she’ll be waiting in your room.” his father said. 

Orion’s heart dropped. They wanted him to have sex now? Balthazar looked at Orion menacingly. He was a scary-looking man with black hair to his shoulders and a bushy black beard from which his lips couldn’t be seen. He slightly raised his head as though to say, “Go on.” 

Orion spent thirty minutes under the shower, staring at his feet, his mind blank. He didn’t know what to do. There was nothing he could do. He entered his rooms still wearing defeat on his face. Kassandra was sitting on his bed, brushing her hair, the tips of which covered her naked breasts. She blushed once she saw Orion enter. He didn’t. 

An hour and a half later, Orion was lying in the bed, staring at the wall in front. His body didn’t know whether it wanted to cry, scream or both. He felt soft skin touch his back. Kassandra placed her hand on his and whispered in his ear. 

“You did well. I thought you were cute when I saw you at school, but I didn’t know you were a Hawthorne. I’m sorry.” she hesitantly kissed him on the cheek and walked out. 

He remained frozen in his bed for the entire night until his body simply gave out. 

The next day, to his despair, he woke up in the same place he remembered falling asleep in. The clock on the wall read three in the afternoon. That clock was the only item on any of the walls. His room was like an asylum’s, only decorated with two bookshelves; there were no windows, no posters, no plants, just a desk, books and a bed. In the bathroom mirror he saw his eyes had dark circles around them, his hair that was usually moderately well combed was a mess. He didn’t look like himself. He didn’t feel like himself. He didn’t want to be himself. 

He didn’t want to stay in that house a single second more than he had to, so as soon as he washed up, he went out. He wasn’t paying attention to where he was going, constantly bumping into people. 

“Orion, what happened? Are you ok?” the lady at the local bakery came from behind the counter and bent down to take a close look at the boy. When he was a child, he often came to buy sweets here and the sweet plump lady would always give him one for free. 

“I haven’t slept well in a while; the cat always wakes me up in the middle of the night.” he tried to force a smile as he lied, but it didn’t sound very convincing as his voice was incredibly shaky. 

“Come inside, come.” she nudged the boy in. “Here you go.” she handed him a plate of sponge cake and a hot cup of cocoa. 

He couldn’t look at the food without the urge to vomit rising inside him. He thanked the good lady and said he couldn’t accept the food, as he would spoil his dinner later. He quickly sped out of the shop, trying to go to a place where he would be alone. There were no such places in Central London.